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Québec's manufacturing industry, by numbers¹

• 2^nd largest industry with 475 000 jobs
• Contributes close to 13% to Québec’s GDP, with 49 billion$
• 40,000 university students enrolled in innovative manufacturing related programs
• Renown in key sectors : AI, 5G, IoT, robotics, additive manufacturing

¹ Ministry of Economy and Innovation, 2016 ; Study conducted by Deloitte and E&B Data on behalf of REAI. Portrait 2019. Advanced manufacturing in Quebec. 2020; Ministry of Education and Higher Education, 2019;

A collaborative environment for innovative manufacturing²

• A network of multidisciplinary and complementary accelerators and research and test centers, such as:

   

  • Innovation 4.0 network, a collaboration among Québec’s major universities in research, knowledge sharing, fundraising and access to infrastructure and resource sharing
  • The Grouping of Industrial Automation Companies (REAI) fosters collaboration between smart automation companies
  • Réseau des centres d’expertise industrielle (RCEI), a network of industrial expertise centres, to foster understanding and ownership of Industry 4.0 principles

² Ministry of Economy and Innovation, 2021; REAI, 2019;

A clear support from the government of Québec

• With an objective of $2,4B over 4 years through the Productivity Innovation initiative (2020-2024), adds up to another $2,4B of funding granted to SMEs as part of the Innovative Manufacturing initiative
• Productivity Innovation initiative encourages companies to focus on innovation in its various forms and on the adoption of technologies and processes such as digitization, automation robotization and the use of AI
• Québec’s Ministry of Economy and Innovation’s Digital transformation strategic initiative aims to strengthen the ecosystem

Sustainable and climate-neutral manufacturing³

• Compétivert initiative encourages businesses to adopt clean technologies and environmentally responsible practices in order to become more competitive while reducing their environmental footprint

Considerable synergies through artificial intelligence

Québec is a world leader in AI

• $3+ billion in AI investment in Québec since 2016
• Lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita than all other Canadian provinces and US states
• Electricity sourced from 99.8% renewable energy, principally hydropower
• Leading-edge ecosystem and expertise based on several green energy sources, including hydroelectricity, wind, biomass and green hydrogen
• One of the least polluting primary aluminium production in the world
  (7 times less polluting than aluminium production in China)
• Proactive green battery production governmental strategy, looking to fill the critical gaps in the value chain to produce a battery with a low carbon footprint

Conference Board of Canada; Association de l’industrie électrique du Québec, “Annual report 2019-2020”; Government of Québec, 2020.

About Investissement Québec International

Investissement Québec plays an active role in Québec’s economic development. It supports business creation and growth with advisory services, investments and customized financial solutions. It also provides technological support to spur performance and innovation. Through Investissement Québec International, it assists Québec-based and international companies with their globalization projects and prospects for talent and foreign investment for Québec.